With 52 days left until the regular season starts up again, let’s take a look at a former Calgary Flames player with that number.
Since the start of August, we’re counting down the number of days left until the regular season starts up again! Everyday until the start of the season, we’ll be talking about a Calgary Flames player whose number correlates with how many days there are left.
For the last few days, we’ve been talking about players who are retired and/or no longer playing in the NHL. Let’s change that up a bit for today.
Yesterday, we talked about Derek Morris who played over 1100 games. Today, let’s talk about #52 Brandon Bollig.
Related Story: 53 Days Left Until the Season Starts - #53 Derek Morris
Who is Brandon Bollig?
Name: Brandon Bollig
Birth place: St. Charles, Missouri, USA
Position: LW
Shoots: Left
Birthdate: 1987-01-31
Height: 6’2” / 188 cm
Weight: 101 kg / 223 lbs
Drafted by: undrafted
Stats with all NHL teams, regular season:
Stats with minor teams, regular season:
Going undrafted, Brandon Bollig started his NHL career with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010. He was playing with the Saints at St. Lawrence University of the NCAA when he led the team with 83 PIM. Liking his grit, the Blackhawks signed him to a two-year, two-way contract.
He finally made his NHL debut in 2012 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. When players make their NHL debut after being recalled from the farm-team, you don’t expect a lot out of them. But for Bollig? Well, he didn’t care that he was a rookie. He recorded his first NHL fight that night against Leafs’ Luke Schenn. Welcome to Chicago!
As you can see from the stats above, Bollig remained pointless in his games with the Blackhawks. However, he did manage 58 PIM which was the third highest on the team for that season, even though he only played in 18 games. Furthermore, from his first NHL game until the end of that season in 2012, he was the third highest in the league for PIM.
Even though he was pointless that season, he played with the team in the playoffs and managed his first NHL goal in the post-season.
The next season he spent his time between the Blackhawks and their AHL affiliate, the Rockford Icehogs. He still remained pointless in the NHL regular season and had 51 PIM in 25 games. That season though, the 2012-2013, something exciting for the Blackhawks happened… A Stanley Cup? Does that sound familiar to anyone?
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Bollig appeared in just 5 games in the post-season, but he still got the chance to hoist up his Cup and now has his name forever implanted in the Stanley Cup. The next season, he played his first ever full season with the Blackhawks, but managed just 14 points and 92 PIM in 82 games.
Bollig was traded to the Flames the season after and played with the Flames for the 2014-15 season. He managed just 5 points and 88 PIM in 62 games. That year, the Calgary Flames made the playoffs for the first time in six years and they made it past the first round for the first time in 11 years. In their 11 playoff games, Bollig had two goals.
Bollig spent the next year with the Flames where he had just four points in 54 games and the Flames failed to make the playoffs. The season following, Bollig was sent down to the Flames farm-team, the Stockton Heat, where he spent all season. He had 22 points in 60 games with the Heat this past season (but 136 PIM). His enforcer role isn’t enough for the Flames anymore and they didn’t re-sign him.
This off-season, Bollig was signed to a one-year two-way contract by the San Jose Sharks.
Next: Flames Future Looks Bright with Prospect Adam Fox
California’s where he’ll be headed to now, but I’m sure we’ll still see plenty of him, minors or not.